Show 1 lecture DELIVERED BT BY ELDER eldeb WILLIAM WILLES villes BEFORE THE UNIVERSAL scientific SOCIETY evex EVEN EVENING INGo OCTOBER ism IBM REPORTED BY nob BOB L campnell I 1 feel it a pleasure to be present on an this occasion and to have the opportunity of attempting to minister to your improvement and instruction and contributing to spend a pleasant evening I 1 shall speak on the customs and manners afindia of india where I 1 have been laboring the prophet joseph was instructed by revelation to obtain a knowledge of countries and to seek wisdom and knowledge by study and out of good books the prophets have hive sald slid zion zinn should become the joy cfall of all ail the earth her missionaries are being beina sent to all nations the improvements in the we arts arts and sciences amongst mankind will thu thus 3 be brought into our midst and as oaks grow grovr out of acorns so these germs will unite and expand until zion shall become the praise of the whole earth there is a remarkable tree in india called the banyan tree which sends forth roots from its branches which descend to the earth take root and form new nev trunks and stems ad infinitum until it becomes a perfect tree forest lik rik amer fAmer ica an offshoot from britain becoming much larger than the parent tree and altho aitho zion is apparently an ot off shoot from the tile nations yet she will ultimately become greater thin them all the natives of I 1 india consider according to a well known adage among them that the there re are three principal duties which man has to perform in society the raising of children the planting of trees and the digging of wells and tanks the duty connected with raising children is well understood der stood in all parts of the earth and needs no explanation but in regard to the planting of trees plan commends itself to our approval inasmuch as irrigation protection atad and growth are secured by the aid of a plan whick which they follow of surrounding the sapling with a circular mud wall from a foot at the base to 6 or 7 inches at the top 3 or 4 feet high having a slight inclination inwards and the opening at the top being covered with bramble bushes to render the protection still more perfect apertures Aper tures are left at the bottom of the wall to receive and convey irrigation streams in regard to the tanks and wells many individuals divi duals appropriate large sums d during their ilfe life time and in their for the purpose of afi 1 excavating excavating wells wella and making I 1 tanks for the pub 1 lie benefit in india they have many processes of ty connected with increasing personal comfort b by y artificially reducing the temperature in their houses one cottri contrivance vance is called the kuskus tatty this is made of a bamboo rame with cross pieces the whole length of the frame about the distance of 4 inches apart on which are placed small vegetable fabres fibres known there as kuskus this is made the size of the door or window in which it is fixed on the windward side of the house and during the prevalence of the hot winds is constantly kept saturated satti rated with water either from the klings of water from a i perforated trough placed over the top or water I 1 thrown from a mug by an attendant agreeing with the experiments illustrated by the celebrated dr franklin upon the tile principle that the temperature is reduced by evaporation which is a source of much comfort to those who have been accustomed to more temper ite tte climes in this way the temperature of their dwellie dwellings oil oti is reduced from 20 to 30 degrees in addition to I 1 his they suspend large or fans rans from the belliner cel cei liner by ropes which are propelled I 1 to and fro by native servants by means of ropes and pulley pulleys these there pun kalis kalts consist of oblong frames trams of wood upon which is stretched cotton cloth painted and adorned according to the mean sand taste of the tiie owners you will readily admit that such an apparatus is of great utility where the sun ia is almost vertical and the thermometer will stand iea lea in the shade and in the upper pro vinces of bengal where the hot winds prevail for fur several months sa in the year notwithstanding the heat is so great in the day time large quantities of ice are artificially made collected and distributed under the superintendence of committees formed for that purpose for the benefit of large societies who con non tribute of their means to defray the necessary ex pences the process is simple and consists of placing irim irie small ismall unglazed unIa unla zed earthen dishes on rice straw placed upon the ground which dishes are at sunset nearly filled with water by native men women and children employed for the purpose anu arm between that tima limo and sunrise in each dish a cake dofice of iee ice is is formed upon the same principle of evaporation the st wind prevailing during tile the night tend to essect effect this it is only in the upper provi provinces nees in the fall of the y asar ar they tiley can mike make m ike ake ice the A he lower provinces are plied piled by ships from america which carry yarry apple apples also fruit and flower trees in the ice iee ice which ars kerves them butter cutter is kept cool by tile the ice ice it is also used in their wines and other commodities men and animals wear much faster in india than iii ill ao in changeable cli cil climate mat it requires much care in shielding the tile head from the sun by means maans means of an umbrella to prevent being sun ck ek which is the case with many who do not use that precaution precaution amono among noth europeans and natives yet on oil the other hind from mere more ns us torn tom and usage thou gindi sindi old and young will go 50 w with ith pe perfect amnon ity tty with their heads entirely uncovered and even sharf shivon ri their heads chinina shinin chinin in the mirrors mirrors hiving been smeared with cocoa nut oil they generally avoid all extremes in eating drinking and exercise which is very observe 1 ble in the almost entire absence of haste coin pared with the western nations nation which characterizes all their movements they retain with great tenacity their national peculiarities which have been handed down for thousands of years the stereotyped characteristics of which are still observable at every turn they acknowledge themselves ino inferior prior to europeans in every thing except ini int music isic although thesta the tie state teof of efficiency of the musical world in india if we may maybe be allowed the expression is at a low ebb at the present time they have a small violin with a bunch of jingles at the lower end of the bow an instrument called by them a sitar or sort of banjo with metal strings a kind of clar ciar lonel ionel horns and the tile tumtum a pigmy drum they also have gongs cymbals and arid large drums an amusing instance of their strong predilection for their awn style of music consisting of very short shon air airs interlarded inter larded with a jumble of indefinable clang clangor and illustrative of their of our style of musical compositions took place at the palace of the king of oude at lucknow where the king had just introduced to his court a band of european musicians who were performing at a grand festival given by him at which they executed a series of musical compositions bucl much appreciated by the european visitors present which were preceded by the usual tuning of instruments after alter the pieces had all been played the king requested the conductor to favor him with a repetition of the tiie first tune they played they began their series and went 1 2 3 ac bu but t to their utter astonishment the tile king persisted edin in stating slating that they had not played the tune which he heard them play at first and being in dispain of satisfying him they commenced recommenced re tuning their instruments in the usual manner upon hearing which his majesty expressed his gratification by exclaiming the right tune for this very good reason that it was most like the musical ef fusions of indian ludian musicians most alost of the native musicians tire are itinerants of orthe of the lowest stamp except a few who are retained in the courts of the hindmo rulers called rajahs rajahn or but formerly previous to british rule in india the poet and tile tiie musician wire were combined in one person the same as the bards in europe and were hed held in high estimation both by ruler rulers and people th their now wil wui sometimes bastl last three weeks and are conducted in a sumptuous at style 1 e 1 an on w which bich occasions open house is kept I 1 dancing g by the natives is a professional employment followed by men and women of disreputable characters who are hired to d dance a c 0 on these occasions and inconsequence in consequence of th this it at first excited extreme surprise in the mind mindi 0 of many respectable natives who had been ind induced u c to throw off their prejudices by excepting invitations to balls and parties given by europeans to find that the european europeans themselves were the dancers considering it ta tobe be aitho altho althos a necessary calling a very degrading one the indan laatch or dance consists merel merely Y in the exhibition of the most profuse and graceful movements of the head arms and body and many gesticulations with little or no movement odthe of the fret foet as well as occasional ional lonal eions and genuflections genuflect ions or kne knee elings linga these biatch rundles or dancing girls are sumptuously dressed in flowing garments and accompany the musicians with a soni sonar mostly extemporaneous and either of a lewd or character to suit the taste of their employers As the alches na mostly come off at night the place of entertainment enter tai tal n ment is brilliantly illuminated by lamps r supplied up plied piled with cocoa nut oil and flambeaux or neat torch which renders the whole seane imposing and gorgeous greatly heightened b by the variety of cu worn by the n na a tive live gentry gc and by way of contrast a large swarm ot of natives in their undress the hookham or indian pipe is freely tied ti ed on these occasions and consists ofa of a vessel in the shape of 0 a tankard calculated to contain about a quart of water in the upper opening of which if 4 inserted a wooden pipe which descends to nearly the bottom of the vessel and to which is attached pipes or sometimes long flexible tubes several yards in length richly ornamented with silk grass gross gold and silver lace and furnished with amber or ivory mouth pieces at the top odthe of the perpendicular pipe which ch is inserted in the water if is placed a small pan which fits on closely and contains tile tiie th tobacco and small pieces of live charcoal to keep the tobacco bac o lighted the advantage of this method of smoking tobacco may imy ie be readily inferred as all the smoke which issues through the tribe anbe has ascended through the water parted with some of the injurious ingredients contained in tobacco the smoking tobacco of india is manufactured so as to mike it agreeable to the devotee of the tile pipe inas inasmuch munh much as molasses spices carde mums carra ways tamarinds tama tams ninda rinds and rose w water ater 1 with other scents are used in its ita composition the iid deepal pee pec and banyan trees are the most pop popular idar and me of the tile sh shade ade trees of india the tamarind erows as 03 laree large as re the british oak havinga a finall f 41 ink ank irk gree green n narrow leaf laif and baars hari h ars ari the tiie delicious fruit known by that name tiie tile the p ep il tree is an object ol 01 vene veneration ratin aarn th uin Hin doos who that each eaph leaf lent of chii tree contains the spirit ol 01 some tep rep tertod tos tod d relative or fita fits ita its planter plan pr in tile die hot hoi w eathor it orm a delightful shade 1 as its le eee ere re iri iti cr con instant stint motion and have a ion lorl P pendant jdant joint the binyan banyan or indian fig is folind coye eoye covering rinal several acres and cap me ible of shading sh shading adint a whole hoie hole iriny the figs furnish food for vast flock flocks of I 1 birds w whose hose loud and continuous chatter anay a y be heard daily I 1 have a few illustrations of trades trade modes of conveyance and public buildings of india which I 1 design to present to you at some future time which would give you an opportunity of associating my statements w with ith the pictorial representations tat ions for as cobbett the tile celebrated grammarian used to say baylet iet let us impress by way of illustration tra tion 2 by this means ideas are more indelli bly fixed upon tiie tile mind by associating lations with names and ob objects jecus and names and objects with representations I 1 have a representation of a nal native live potter forming pots and pans from clay which is placed upon a flat horizontal solid wheel having a pin in th centre which turns in a socket and is made to revolve by placing a piece of stick in n notch and moved by a sweep of the hand land which 11 holds the stick and presses the wheel during the evolutions of which he alternately turn turns the wheel and moulds the clay in fact if th the different diffie rent works obart prod pred produced in india were placed side by side with the material and implements clements ts made use ofin of in their construction much astonishment would be excited in the minds mindret of an intelligent european artisan that such re suit buts q could be produced by such 1 simple impie means thie this observation will apply aptly to the eon enn construction st of machinery for building bridges the manufacture of sugar or the delicate mant manipulations pula puia employed in the manefa manufacture of jewelry and muslin eor for the nobility Y the natives of india make as frequent use of their feet in arts and manufactures as they doof do of their hands for instance in the art of wood turning a european workman would require an expensively constructed lathe but the indian workman by the aid of his feet and a few simple pimple tools and materials will bring about precisely the same results 1 I have now brought before you a few preliminary and desultory y remarks hoping at some future time to have the pleasure of delivering a series of lectures illustrative of my experience in the east indies thanking you for your kind attention I 1 pray that the blessings of heaven may attend you for forever ever in the name of jesus amen |